Modest march

[ProjectsGalore]

Following on from frugal feb. Assemble all those wanting to manage money better this month. I've managed to actually put some money into savings this month to start an emergency fund. I'm determined to make sure that my council tax bill savings go straight into savings this month too!

Checking in for March! I haven’t had a good start to the month and it’s made me realise I need these threads for the accountability.
Friday - £4 in Pret because I forgot lunch. £50(!) at the pub. £35 to see Dune next week (DH’s turn to plan date night, lol).
Yesterday - £25 on a takeaway.
When I write it down it’s so ridiculous.
I did an £80 shop on Thursday to last us two weeks and will stick to the meal plan. I didn’t plan anything for last night hoping for leftovers - that was my downfall!
So no food needed this week other than milk, bread, eggs and maybe some oven chips. Planning for NSDs today, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday I’m taking DM out and Friday I’m out celebrating a friend’s promotion. Saturday for cinema we’re packing snacks and drinks and I’ve found a cheap place to grab a bite after. Busy week, this month should be quieter after this!

Went shopping with DH today and spent a total of £61.30 in Home Bargains and Lidl. Also bought PJs on Amazon for Gc's birthday this week £11.97
Managed 1 NSD out of 3 so far - must improve on that!!

After two Nsds I’ve treated the family to a greggs. £10 not too bad.

this was after taking the kiddies to a free workshop at Dobbies garden centre.

Tomorrow I have the dentist so will definitely need to pay for a check up as a minimum, & then our childrens group in the afternoon which is free. So hopefully low spend day for us.

Saturday was NSD and we had fun at the play. Today was low spend - we took advantage of the sunshine to go to the park on our bikes. I bought ds an ice cream 🍦 although it was so cold he started shivering! So we went home again to warm up.

Hoping for another NSD tomorrow - will bring coffee, lunch etc. as usual. Good luck for the new week, everyone!

DD has an old Huawei phone that's just died a death and because there's no support for them in the UK anymore, she's being forced to upgrade. We can't afford anything outright (not even second hand) unfortunately so have got her an iPhone 13 on a £28 a month contract using our Tesco Clubcard.

I'll admit, I'm happy as I can kind of track both her and her sister more easily but not an additional expense I wanted to add monthly when we have a baby due in 9 weeks.

I've had a shocking start. Bought a bag and done boots on vinted (I do not need any more bags or boots) and some keto and collagen powder (these I do need).
I have managed to stay out of the cafes, so I've steered clear of buying take away coffee from places that are 10 minutes away from my house!

I also did some Vinted shopping last night… realised I didn’t write that into my plan but I had some money in the balance from things sold so bought some new trousers for work, which I do desperately need! I did also buy boots though which I don’t strictly need, don’t tell DH I also found a dress for the wedding I’m attending later in the year. £20 and it’s something I can wear for other occasions too. So I’ve added to my wishlist for maybe later in the month but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

Other than that which I’m not really counting! Yesterday was NSD and looks like the same today.

sticking with the low spending. I'm valiantly avoiding clothes spending as i have loads already. Small child has not been sleeping great and tired me usually wants a shopping spree! However ive been very good at not spending money unneesessarily.

Did more grocery shopping on Sunday and we are now stocked up for a while. im away from wed - sat this week so this should last 2 weeks. Bought some primroses for our garden but i had planned to buy these.

Spent the weekend getting some stuff done in the garden in anticipation of the glorious weather im seriously hoping arrives this spring as the 12 months of relentless rain is sapping my spirit!

Cheap start so far. Ds was ill so all weekend plans didn’t happen.
Friday
€60 - chalk based wall plaster for cellar fix (it’s been on order)
€14 metal tomato swirl stakes for this year growing
€45 - supermarket

Sat and Sunday - NSD

Monday
€50 paint - for said cellar once wall fixed
€81 - supermarket

I too succumbed to Vinted @LadyBird1973 and @HowDidThisHappenDinesh so no NSD yesterday for me! To be fair it was a handbag for £7 as mine is disintegrating (only bought on Black Friday as well - it was reduced, but I thought it would last a bit longer!), but still...

Unexpected £200 dentist bill later and my motivation is absolutely destroyed!
treated the kids to lunch out today because I have no willpower. all in I’m very annoyed 😒

hoping to start afresh tomorrow! 🙈 xx

@Disneyland2022 awh, it couldn't be helped and think of it as a very important investment in yourself.
Put it behind you and yes, a fresh start tomorrow.

NSD for me today :)

@Disneyland2022 I hear you! Mine wasn't teeth it was tyres, but I too was cross so treated the kids to dinner out, and a big cake for pudding, wrecking my diet and my budget all at the same time! Seriously needing some NS days to try and claw some back.

@Disneyland2022 @Haveyoubrushedyourteeth such a pain but can’t be helped and a bit of a treat to cheer you up isn’t the end of the world x

NSD for me. There was a thread on here about cheesy mash the other day which made me crave cheesy baked beans (? not something I ever crave or even eat often!) and I almost went into Greggs for a breakfast bake. Resisted til teatime when I dug out an ancient tin from the cupboard to have with sausage and chips, perfect lazy tea that satisfied my random craving! Resisting instant gratification takes practice but is getting easier.
Yesterday I bought milk, eggs and oven chips so not technically a NSD but the milk had gone out and had planned to buy thaf stuff tomorrow so it wasn’t unplanned. Still in keeping with Modest March 😁
Tomorrow I’m out with DM but I’ve planned dinner and I’m hoping to just spend £20 or so.

Work is very busy right now, but on my way home yesterday I had to buy some snacks for ds (if I pick him up from after school club without one, all hell breaks loose!). Not bought any nonessentials so far in March except for the ice cream for ds at the park and £41 on skincare for me and ds (much of it was needed, but some makeup was also included in the kit - which I definitely didn't need yet). Onwards and upwards and hoping for a NSD today.

Good luck today, everyone!

As planned spent £21 today with DM!
NSD planned tomorrow.

Just spent £29 at Asda on some bits for a nice lunch for myself as I'm feeling a bit down today (chilli jam and halloumi pasta with rocket), a long t-shirt dress as I'm in the third trimester and need something easy to throw on for appointments etc and some daily bits.

NSD for the rest of the day though.

NSD today. Tomorrow will be spendy though. I’ll be happy if we manage to stay under £125 for dinner and drinks for the two of us.
Also need to buy hair dye and skincare stuff. Not sure if I should pick it up tomorrow or wait til next week. Doing ok for food - thinking I can put off even a top up shop til at least Monday.

Hi everyone, not a bad start here.

Two spend days one for £50 for a birthday gift, and £27 spend also gifts including Mother's Day present. I need to buy some flowers at the weekend too. No other planned spends this month, but we have the Easter break whic will reqire entertaining the kids but will see what cheaper things we can find to do.

£150 put in my Christmas savings. Any extra cash funds will be going into a car insurance pot, although hard to say how much that will rise as that seems to be on the up again.

Pleased so far. I hope everyone is doing well too.

Good run of NSDs. Despite this, aside from the standing items we won't have much to save this month as various forms of insurance have gone up so much and we're opting to pay lump sums rather than the monthly payment charges.

Yet another attempt to influence DH to have a conversation about budgets with me. This is ratcheting up as I need him to make a decision about topping up his ISA, whether to put his bonus into the company pension rather than take it and pay tax on it now etc. etc.

We have an offset mortgage. I need him to be able to talk about whether we leave money in the savings account where it is linked and therefore reduce the monthly mortgage payments or if we would derive greater benefit from maxing out an ISA if we can link it.

DH has, yet again, promised, "This weekend" for the budget discussion - as he has for the last 6 weeks or more since his first ever finance initiated conversation. (Backstory.)

March is an expensive month for me, with family birthdays and Mother's Day.
I have been staying away from cafes though, so no unnecessary spending on takeaway coffees!

£10 spent on essentials today! Not too bad but NSD is the target!
I’m going to have to be really strict next week!!